The Enchantress is a 1983 martial arts-supernatural-romance-fantasy film directed by Chor Yuan, made by Shaw Brothers, starring Max Mok, Feng Jing-jing, Anthony Lau Wing and Lo Lieh as a bumbling sidekick.
The Mountain of Moonlit Sky is rumored to be a place of worship among the Ming Clans, but it's also said to be haunted, where warriors and fighters who ventures into the mountains are never seen again. The young Ming warrior, Feng Xiwu (Mok), on a quest, inevitably stumbles into the hills after rescuing Shui-Ling, a young maiden being harassed by a group of punks, who then brings Feng to her mansion home in the mountains. Unbeknownst to Feng, Shui-Ling and the residents of the mansion are bloodthirsty, vengeful ghosts from a clan massacre 18 years ago...
Contains multiple parallels to A Chinese Ghost Story (in all fairness, they're both based on the same novella from Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio), which was made 4 years after and is much more well-known than this film.
Do not confuse this movie with the comic book character with the same name.
The Enchantress Contains Examples of:
- The Atoner: Master Lan Tian-yu of the Ming sect is genuinely remorseful that his clan is responsible over the massacre of the Japanese, including killing his lover, Shui Tian-jiao, who returns as a ghost. He swore off living as an esteemed martial artist and stops practicing his swordplay skills for the 18 years after her death, until he finds out she's back to exact revenge on the Mings.
- Boy Meets Ghoul: Between Feng Xiwu, a human warrior, and Shui-Ling the ghost-girl.
- Covers Always Lie: The poster seemingly implies that Shui Tian-jiao is a vengeful, destructive, malevolent spiritual entity and pure evil, but in the film itself she's a Tragic Villain who becomes evil only because she's betrayed by the man she loves.
- Dating What Mommy Hates: Shui Tian-jiao swears vengeance on the Mings and wants them all killed, but her daughter Shui-Ling genuinely loves the protagonist, Feng Xiwu, who is a Ming warrior-in-training. This doesn't end well when Shui Tian-jiao finds out.
- Deader than Dead: The final, final death of Shui Tian-jiao, where she will no longer return even as a ghost.
- Dying Curse: In the flashback, Shui Tian-jiao lets out one of these after being betrayed and killed by the Mings. Specifically, on her Ming lover:"Lan Tian-yu... I swear.... I swear I shall return, and haunt you after I'm dead!"
- Invisible Streaker: Master Ku, while fighting Shui-Ling, managed to make himself invisible thanks to a charm. But his pants are still visible, and he ends up stripping before her as he made a run for it (thankfully the audience are spared from seeing Lo Lieh butt-naked due to him being already invisible).
- In a Single Bound: Most characters can travel great distances just by leaping, and float all over the place with their qi. The ghost characters, namely Shui-Ling and her mother Shui Tian-jiao, can do this too, because they're ghosts.
- Jacob Marley Apparel: Played straight with Shui Tien-jiao, the ghost leader. In her flashback she wears a variety of robes and outfits while courting Master Lan, right until her death where she's wearing a white-and-gold dress. For the rest of the film, that dress is the very outfit she wears all the way until her eventual final death.
- Nightmare Face: Shui Tian-jiao, in more than one occasion, displays this expression when she's slaughtering the Ming swordsmen to quench her thirst for revenge.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: The ghosts in this movie are spirits of an ancient Japanese martial arts sect who's betrayed by the Ming, where after their resurrection are able to retain their kung-fu skills. Shui-Ling herself is born a ghost from her mother who is slain while pregnant, and can actually travel in broad daylight.
- Rescue Romance: Shui-Ling started falling for Feng Xiwu after he rescued her from a band of thugs, oblivious to the fact that she's a spirit.
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: The Ming higher-ups are fearful that the Japanese sect are growing too powerful for their own good, and will endanger the Mings. So they initiated a massive clan massacre where all the Japanese, including Shui Tian-jiao (then pregnant) and her handmaidens, to all be killed. But it turns out a Japanese curse allows Shui Tian-jiao to return as a powerful, vengeance-filled ghost, who ultimately becomes too powerful to control.
- Star-Crossed Lovers:
- The human warrior Feng Xiwu and the ghost-girl, Shui-Ling, which is made complicated by the fact that Shui-Ling's mother wants to massacre every Ming warrior, which Feng is a member of.
- In the backstory, turns out Shui-Ling's mother, Shui Tian-Jiao, was a Japanese warrior who fell in love with a Ming warrior, Master Lan. But their clan forbids their romance, and she ends up getting killed in the subsequent massacre before she became a ghost.
- Together in Death: Shui Tian-Jiao and Master Lan Tian-yu in the ending, in order for him to atone for his betrayal and stop her from killing out the rest of the Ming clans.
- Tragic Villain: The ghost queen, Shui Tian-Jiao, was actually a member of a Japanese sect betrayed and massacred by the Mings, where her lover, the Ming swordsman Master Lan, is forced to kill her, oblivious that she's pregnant with his child.
- Troubled Backstory Flashback: The truth behind Shui Tian-Jiao's terrible backstory is revealed partway through the film, via a narration from her daughter, Shui-Ling; as it turns out, Shui Tian-Jiao is part of a member of a Japanese martial arts sect who formed an alliance with the Ming clans, and Shui Tian-Jiao ultimately fell in love with Master Lan Tian-yu of the Mings. But due to the Mings fearing the Japanese who became too great in power, they end up betraying the Japanese sect and killing everyone, including Shui Tian-Jiao, who is pregnant with Master Lan's daughter, who later turns out to be Shui-Ling. Thanks to an ancient Japanese curse, Shui Tian-Jiao and her closest handmaidens are able to come back as ghosts to exact revenge on the Ming 18 years later.
- Ur-Example: The movie is pretty much the 80's equivalent to A Chinese Ghost Story, with a more tragic and sympathetic main villain.
- Vengeful Ghost: Shui Tian-jiao and her handmaidens are seeking revenge on the Ming clans, who betrayed them 18 years ago and have them all massacred.
- Wire Fu: Used to make the ghost characters fly all over the place, mostly for Shui-Ling and her mother, Shui Tian-Jiao.
- Wuxia
